Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, Vol. 6 No.2, Mei 2018 96 LANGUAGE EMPLOYMENT IN CHILDREN OF TWO YEARS OLD IN MATARAM, WEST NUSA TENGGARA BARAT Hilda Hastuti 1 , Wiya Suktiningsih 1 1 STIBA Bunigora Mataram hildahastuti7@gmail.com 1 , wiya.suktiningsih@stibabumigora.ac.id 1 Abstract This research aims to describe language acquisition in children age 2 years especially in the realm of sintax at PAUD Santa Maria Mataram City. This research is synchronic research used the qualitative method which was descriptive method. The subject of this research was the children age 2 yeras at PAUD Santa Maria and the object of this research was language acquisition which was the acquisition of declarative, introgative, and imperative. The data was collected by simak libat baca technique and simak libat catat. After the data was analyzed, the data was classified into the acquisition of declarative, introgative, and imperative. Based on the data analysis that has done, found language acquisition of children age two years from April to May were 54 declaratives, 18 imperatives, and 13 introgatives. The result of this study also shows that the children age 2 years are more likely used declarative sentences than interogative and imperative in the daily conversation. Keywords: language acquisition of children, declarative, interogative, imperative Abstrak Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan pemerolehan bahasa anak usia 2 tahun khususnya dalam ranah sintaksis di PAUD Santa Maria Kota Mataram. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian sinkronis menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif, yaitu penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Subjek dari penelitan ini adalah Anak usia 2 tahun di PAUD Santa Maria dan objek dari penelitian ini adalah pemerolehan bahasa, yakni pemerolehan kalimat deklaratif, imperatif, dan interogatif. Data penelitian ini dikumpulkan dengan teknik simak libat cakap dan simak libat catat. Setelah data dianalisis kemudian data diklasifikasikan menjadi pemerolehan kalimat deklaratif, imperatif dan interogatif. Berdasarkan analisis data yang telah dilakukan, ditemukan bahwa pemerolehan bahasa pada anak usia 2 tahun dari bulan April sampai dengan bulan Mei 2018 adalah kalimat deklaratif sebanyak 54 kalimat , kalimat imperatif 18 kalimat, dan kalimat Interogatif 13 kalimat. Data hasil penelitian ini juga menunjukkan bahwa anak-anak usia 2 tahun lebih cenderung menggunakan kalimat deklaratif daripada imperatif dan interogatif dalam percakapan sehari-hari. Kata kunci: pemerolehan bahasa Anak, kalimat deklaratif, imperatif, interogatif Introduction The use of language seems very usual to everyone, though using language is very complicated. It looks like that because without being taught, since in the mothers’ wombs, humans already have abilities that are not possessed by other creatures. A baby will grow along with the development of the language. Language development in children is obvious between 1 to 1,5 years old, in which they begin to produce sounds that can be identified as words. Along with their age, the children’s language development will also continue to develop from one-word utterances to two-word utterances until eventually forming complex sentences. Brown (2008: 26) states that the remarkable ability of a person to master language skills in a native language in his/her first years has been discussed for centuries. Brown also added about one and a half millennia ago, in “the confessions”, Saint Augustine revealed the acquisition of his own first language, with the phrase "and by continuously hearing the words, which appear in various sentences, I gradually understand what they are saying, I will say my will." Humans listen to what is heard from the surroundings and try to make sense of the capacity they have, then start saying words on a simple level to convey their intentions. Language acquisition occurs naturally and instinctive, which happens in childhood. The first language a child receives is the mother tongue. The mother tongue is a complex language that affects the development of the language in the future. Brown (2008: 6) explains language as a mailto:hildahastuti7@gmail.com mailto:wiya.suktiningsih@stibabumigora.ac.id Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, Vol. 6 No.2, Mei 2018 97 special skill that is complex, which develops in children spontaneously without conscious effort or formal instruction. It is used without understanding the underlying logic and is qualitatively the same in everyone that differs from skill - other things that are more general in terms of processing information or behaving intelligently. Basically, language skills are already possessed by every human being. This is consistent with the nativism's view that during the process of obtaining the first language, the children (humans) gradually open their linguistic abilities that are genetically programmed (Chaer, 2009: 222). This opinion is further explained that Chomsky (in Dardjowidjojo, 2012: 232) views humans having faculties of the mind, i.e. a kind of "intellectual lots" in their minds / brains. One of the lots is for a language called the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), which has been translated into a language ability tool. Furthermore, language is one of the symbols of sound used in communication. Basically every human being uses language in communicating or in expressing thoughts and feelings, including persuasive ones – persuading for good or bad things. Generally, the language used by humans is distinguished into three categories, i.e. verbal language, written language, and sign language. Language development in children includes three components of language, i.e. syntax, phonology, and semantics, which develop simultanously. Syntactical development occurs when a child is able to produce one or two words or more. A child begins to combine two words in the second year of his/her age. This study was designed to determine the language acquisition of two-years old children, by focusing on the acquisition of declarative sentences, command sentences, and interrogative sentences. The research was carried out at PAUD (pre-school service) of Santa Maria Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. This study was expected to supply information as the readers’ benefit. This research elaborated all data collected during the study. Research Methods This research was conducted with a qualitative descriptive method because it aims to describe the acquisition of language, especially declarative sentences, imperative sentences, and interrogative sentences in children aged 2 years. Research Design This type of research is a type of synchronous research which is a language study conducted by observing the phenomenon of a language at a certain period of time. This research was conducted in Santa Maria PAUD in the City of Mataram and this research was conducted from April to May 2018. Subjects in this study were 2-year-old children in Santa Maria PAUD Mataram City and the object of this study was Language acquisition, which was the acquisition of declarative sentences. Imperative, and interrogative. The data collection in this study was carried out by using a skillful listening and recorded learning technique. The technique of referring to competent involvement means that the researcher is involved in the conversation while listening to information from informants or research subjects. Data, Instruments, and Collection Technique In collecting data in this study, researchers engaged in conversations with research subjects and listened to the acquisition of vocabulary and sentences, which were spoken by the research subjects. Furthermore, as a continuation of the skill of listening involved, the technique is recorded taking notes, the researcher records all data that is listened to or spoken by the subject, in the form of vocabulary, declarative sentences, imperatives, and interrogatives. To find out the acquisition at the syntactic level of the subject or children aged 2 years. All data obtained are presented in a table. Each table indicates the Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, Vol. 6 No.2, Mei 2018 96 acquisition of vocabulary and sentences that are mastered by the subject during the research process. The instrument in the study was the researcher himself and the recording device used by the researcher to record data after the communication. Data Analysis Technique Overall data were analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis techniques. The steps taken are the data generated by listening and engaging in dialogue transcribed into written form. Research Finding and Dicussion 1. Deklarative Sentences Children aged 2 years are able to produce simple sentences that contain complete meaning. To find out more clearly the sentences produced by children aged 2 years in PAUD Santa Maria, there are 54 declarative sentences. The example is as follows. (a) / Aya want to aem / (the intention is let's eat) ". (b) Ayin doesn't want to be bani (the point is Arin does not dare) (c) Then one of the children sees his friend carrying a strawberry toy then says / cini poton / (the intention is to cut the fruit). From the example sentences above it can be seen that what is said is still incomplete and still unclear. But grammatically, these sentences can already be classified in complete sentence form. This is marked by Subject (S) + Predicate (P). In general, the S + P form for initial language acquisition can already be classified in complete sentences because the meaning is almost perfect. Likewise, in the sentence "Aya want aem" Aya want to eat grammatically can be understood. From this sentence it can also be seen that the child does not only want to provide information that the child wants to eat, but there is a message to be conveyed that the child wants to get food. Furthermore children also tend to use demonstrative sentences such as the word "this and that". 2. Imperative Sentences It was obtaining the imperative sentence of 2-year-old children in PAUD Santa Maria by 18 sentences. The examples are (a) / see in / (b) not allowed. (c) / come on, let's do jaji / (Let's make more!). Paying attention to the sentence, the sentence that is expressed already has a complete meaning. The logic of the sentences that are expressed is still not sequential in accordance with the imperative sentence. However, it can be said that the sentence produced by the child has been classified in a conversation that is common in a variety of informal or in everyday conversation and can be understood by adults. It can be further examined in this study that children tend to use demonstrative sentences in imperative sentences such as in the example above, / see this /. 3. Interrogative Sentences Interrogative sentences are often used by 2-year-old children in Santa Maria PAUD in the city of Mataram. Obtaining interrogative sentences of children aged 2 years obtained as many as 13 sentences. This was found based on the results of research conducted for 1 (month). An example of an interrogative sentence for a 2- year-old child in PAUD Santa Maria in the city of Mataram is (a) / what is this / (b) / this / and (c) Aditya is not stranded / (does this mean that Aditya did not go home?). From these examples it can be seen that the sentence production of 2 year olds in PAUD Santa Maria is done without thinking. As if these sentences were already commonplace, It can be concluded that a 2-year-old child is able to express a complete interrogative sentence even though the phoneme is incomplete, besides that children are more likely to use demosntrative sentences in interrogating interrogative sentences. Conclusion From the previous explanation it can be concluded that the acquisition of children's language develops along with the development of his age. Children aged 2 years in PAUD Santa Maria use demosntrative sentences in expressing declarative, interrogative and imperative sentences. In addition, the subjects in this study tended to use declarative sentences Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, Vol. 6 No.2, Mei 2018 99 rather than interrogative and imperative sentences in everyday conversations. Furthermore, what made this study unique was that 2-year-old children in PAUD Santa Maria in Mataram city used declarative sentences as implicit representations of imperative sentences. REFERENCES Brown, H. D. (2008). Prinsip pembelajaran dan pengajaran Bahasa.(terjemahan Noor Cholis dan Yusi Avianto Parenon). (Buku asli diterbitkan tahun 2007). Burn, A. Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambrige Univ. Press. Chaer, A. ( 2009). Psikolinguistik : Kajian teoritik. Jakarta: PT. Rineka Cipta. Dardjowidjojo, S. (2012). Psikolinguistik: Pengantar pemahaman bahasa manusia. Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia. Kamus Bahasa Indonesia. 2008. Jakarta: Pusat Bahasa Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan: Balai Pustaka. Khari, M. (2011). 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